


Roll a twenty for friendship

by orphan_account



Series: If canon won't give me what i want i'll do it myself [3]
Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Blood and Injury, Child Neglect, D&D, Dadvid is nice, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Max (Camp Camp) is a Little Shit, Not Max//////vid, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pokemon References, Tags May Change, Team as Family, What-If, but he loves his friends, but you're all missing some great sibling energy, cursing, cuz camp camp, even if he denies it, friends as sibilings, just not the focus here, or any pedophile ship, the fact that i need to say something like that is messed up, the main trio are still friends, you nasty fucks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2020-11-02 18:31:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20816051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: During the bus ride to Camp Campbell Max has no choice but to sit with the weird kid with ridiculous fake elf ears, the cherry on the top of the fucked up cake after the terrible day he had.But she's not that terrible, and has pokémon cards.An What If fic where Max and Nerris met in the first day at camp, and their interactions between episodes.





	1. Downroad to hell

**Author's Note:**

> I can't write Nerris accent, so i just didn't.
> 
> The main trio are still best friends and all the non mentioned canon events happen the same.
> 
> English is not my first language. So endless thanks to my beta reader (can't believe I have one now, so fancy) https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jess4400/pseuds/Jess4400 A.K.A Jesse, who fix the mistakes I otherwise wouldn't even know were there. Be sure to check their fics!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Good parents and bad ones. Quatermaster shouldn't be driving a bus, pokemon cards.

Nerris was excited

She had always loved roleplaying, but besides her dad and her two best friends from school, she had no one else to play with. They were not bad of course, but she had always wanted to expand her party, try new team dynamics, have new adventures...

So, one day after scrolling through some forums, she found the solution.

Roleplaying camp.

Spending a whole summer surrounded by other kids with the same interests? A whole summer of fun activities?She just rolled a perfect 20!

She knew her dad would be just as excited as she was, but convincing her mom would require some levels of charisma. She decided to do some research.

She ended up finding a place called Camp Campbell. It was relatively close to her city, cheaper than the other camps she looked up, and they would even pick her up at her house. Plus, the pamphlet looked really nice! After a further examination (she had high perception levels), she noticed a small "and more" under the title. However, she didn't mind some different activities!

So, she <strike>begged</strike> _asked_ if she could go, as she suspected her dad immediately agreed. Her mom was a little apprehensive about handing her over to a bunch of strangers for three months, but after a look at the site (and a master use of the puppy-dog-eyes technic in Nerris opinion), she agreed.

The last month of school passed in a blur. She told her friends about her new vacation plans, but unfortunately, their parents weren't that easy to convince. Even if it was a bit disappointing, they agreed to exchange letters during the summer, just like people used to do in old kingdoms.

"Remember to stay safe, listen to your counselors, and follow the rules, ok?" Her mother repeated for what it felt like the hundredth time, placing her hands on Nerris shoulders.

"I knooooooooow, mom," She replied, carefully applying glue to her elf ears. Her outfit needed to be perfect to make a good first impression!

Her mom chuckled and placed a kiss on her cheek before carrying her luggage to the living room. Once Nerris finished her job, she turned around to check if she was forgetting anything. She was met by the sight of her dad, instead, who was using his wizard robe from their roleplaying sections. He had his staff in his hand and a solemn expression on his face.

"Nerris the Cute." He started, his voice serious,"By the power vested in me by the seven kingdoms, I offer you the important mission of having fun, making friends, and enjoying your summer. Do you accept your quest?”

She couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. She bowed deeply with her hand on her chest. "I accept the mission. I shall not disappoint elder one," she proudly declared, looking up to meet her dad’s soft gaze.

"That's my girl," he replied. He knelt down and opened his arms for a hug. Nerris happily complied, but before she could react, he quickly lifted her and pinned her under his arm.

"GASP! IT WAS A TRAP!" She shouted. She tried to restrain herself from laughing as he carried her to the living room.

\--------------------

The remaining hours quickly passed, and before she knew it, it was time to go. Her mom looked taken back by how old and rusty the bus was as she was putting the luggage inside. Nerris kinda liked it; maybe it was a way to reference to old kingdoms even with modern things! She quickly hugged both of her parents and bolted towards the bus before mom could change her mind.

They waved at her and Nerris shouted a promise to send letters. When the door closed, she took a deep breath before turning around. She was greeted by the sight of an old man. His beard covered the entirety of his mouth and his clothes were in need of a visit to the washing machine, but she ignored all of that in favor of the man's hook hand. It looked so realistic!

"Hi! I'm Nerris the Cute," she greeted with a salute. "So, which character are you?" She excitedly asked, "Your costume is great, but I don't recognize it!"

Strangely, the man didn't answer, only mumbling something she couldn't discern before hitting the pedal. She almost tripped due to the sudden movement below, but was able to regain her stance. She kept staring, but all the man did to recognize her presence was shortly mumble "Gotta get the other kid," before gesturing for her to sit. Nerris was kind of takenaback by his weird behavior, but shrugged it off. He was probably just acting and couldn't break character!

Nerris thought about his words. Apparently, there was going to be another kid with her! Her school started vacation earlier, so she wasn't expecting another kid to go to camp in the very first day of summer...Surely they were as passionate as she was!

She examined the seats and found they were...not in the best condition. They were really selling the old and rusty aspect! She ended up sitting in the middle of the bus. Her seat only had gum under it...and no seatbelt.

Nerris bit her lip. She was going to question the fact, but the bus came to a sudden stop, launching her forward and face-first on the front seat. She mumbled some censored curses due to force of habit, checking if her glasses were ok when the door opened. She immediately ignored the accident in order to meet her first possible friend.

She was greeted by short boy. He had tanned (practically orange) skin and was wearing a blue hoodie. His raven-black hair was so fluffy that it bounced a little when he shook his head. He was carrying a single backpack and entered the bus without looking behind. Weird.

Then, he turned towards her. His pupils were a bright blue-ish green, but it was overshadowed by the deep bags under his eyes and a red mark across his cheek that slightly resembled the shape of a hand. Maybe he got into a fight?

  
The driver didn't even waited for him to sit before starting to race again, the boy didn't seemed bothered by the rude behavior, rolling his eyes while he examined the bus, when his eyes rested on her she made sure to do a friendly wave, gesturing to the seat at her side in what she hoped wasn't a creepy way.  
  
He took a look at the rest of the bus, as if considering his options before signing and walking towards her direction.

* * *

  
Max hated summer.  
  
He used to like it, during most of his life his parents just used summer to go on expensive vacations, leaving him behind with a fucking _babysitter_. But he didn't minded, they always contracted a shitton of them to last the whole summer, and he felt what was probably the closer he would ever get of true joy when a new one entered the house with a stupid fake smile, some going as far as doing motherfucking _baby talk_ with him. They usually lasted a few days, some even a week. And then a new one would come. His favorites were the supernanny rip-offs. It was way more satisfying to watch them break after laughing at their "discipline" technics.  
  
Another good thing was that he could easily leave the house and enjoy walking around the town by himself, he was well know by some of the homeless people and "rebellious" teenagers that frequented some back alleys to smoke and get high.

He never used any (getting goddamn cancer wasn't on his plans), but if the current babysitter was particularly annoying, showing up at the doorstep with a cigarette in hand (or carrying drugs if he hated her enough) was an easy way to get rid of her. The face those sluts used to make when they discovered that the contact number left by his parents was from a Chinese restaurant never got old.  
  
However, according to what he heard while eavesdropping on one of his parents’ arguments, he was getting too old for that. Thus, last year, they ordered him to pack his stuff and sent him to Camp Campbell.  
  
The problem with the camp wasn't even the fact that the entire thing was a scam, but the fucking counselor himself. As if his cheery attitude wasn't enough, he was impossible to break. It was unbelievable. Max tried everything he knew. He put real effort into a task for the first time in his life, but David's goddamn happy philosophy never cracked. For some motherfucking reason, the man deeply believed that the camp was the Earth version of paradise. The cherry on the top of the fucked-up cake was that he honestly believed that Max and the other campers thought the same.  
  
Max somehow managed to survive the year without committing suicide or mass murder (or both). The other counselor, Gwen, was actually a normal person. Triggering her anxiety always resulted in interesting reactions. Max didn't exactly made any "friends," but he did partner up with some of the other kids in order to create maximum chaos. It was a shame that all of them were lucky enough to never have to come back to that godforsaken hellhole; their parents actually listened to their complaints.  
  
Max knew he was going anyway, but that didn't stop him from throwing a fucking fit. He was honestly surprised when his mother slapped him--usually she would just yell and then proceed to ignore his existence--so he must have caught her in a bad mood. He managed to look at a mirror before the bus arrived. It was honestly kind of disappointing that it wasn't bad enough to leave a permanent mark, but Max's parents weren't dumb enough to give a reason for the CPS to look at their house. It was bad for business.  
  
When the bus arrived, Max had came to a conclusion: he was going to escape from that shitty camp as soon as possible. He had always considered running away, but he seriously doubted he could go far without getting caught. Knowing his folks, they probably didn't put their damn contact number on the form. That didn't bother him (the fact that they actually took a few seconds to write something was surprising), but that meant that the camp had no way to contact them. By the time he’d be issued an Amber alert, he would probably already be in some undeveloped country or dead. It would be fine either way.  
  
His father stood in the doorstep and watched him enter the bus, probably trying to make sure he would actually get in. Without a second thought, Max turned around and gave him the middle finger. He quickly hopped onto the bus without looking back to see the bastard’s reaction. He was probably pretty pissed off, but Max doubted he would remember it by the end of summer. If he did, well, that was a problem for future Max.  
  
He was greeted by the disgusting view of the Quartermaster, but at least there weren’t any visible blood stains this time, which was an improvement. The old man mumbled something unintelligible that could be either a greeting, or a warning that he would start the zombie apocalypse tomorrow; it was hard to guess with him.  
  
When he turned to look for a seat that wouldn't hurt his ass, he spotted another kid waving at him. It was hard to tell their gender, but they were the embodiment of a nerd: They had round glasses, braces and even freckles. The only things that felt off were the stupid fake cardboard ears and the blue cloak tied to their neck in order to look like a cape. At least it wasn't a fucking towel.

Max weighed his options. He really wasn't in the mood to hear whatever crazy shit that kid was into, but it was a long ass ride until camp. If it was anything like last year, it would take at least a week until new kids started showing up. That kid was going to be his only company besides fucking David. He sighed, resigning himself to his fate, and sat down before the Quartermaster decided to drive the bus off of a cliff.

"Greetings, fellow travelling companion!" Judging by the voice, the kid was a girl. "I am Nerris the Cute, resident mage, and you are...?"

Max couldn't help himself. She really just fucking bowed at him! He tried to suppress his laughter, rolling on the bus floor was a really bad idea. The fact that the girl--Nerris--was looking at him with the ultimate confused face didn't help one bit.

"I'm Max," he managed to spill after almost running out of air. "So, let me guess, you're here for nerd camp and you have no idea that this whole thing is a money-laundering scam?"

Nerris adjusted her glasses with an arrogant look on her face. "Alright, first of all, I find the term ‘nerd’ offensive. I would rather be called ‘sorceress,’ or ‘magic user’ if you don't mind." The fact that she said all of that with a straight face wasn't helping Max's mission of not falling from his seat "And what do you mean by scam? I looked up at the site and everything looked good."

Max wiped a small tear from the corner of his eye. He could tell her how shitty the camp actually was, but on the other hand, it would be much better if she found out while looking at the mess with her own eyes. Especially when there’d be a certain conveniently-placed camp counselor whom she could take her anger out on.

"You'll see once we get there" Max announced. Before he could start making fun of her fake ears (seriously, why?), she bent down, pulled a plastic bag from her luggage, and turned toward him with another smile.

"It's a long journey until our destination," she said, apparently deciding to ignore the previous subject, "I brought some stuff to pass the time. What do you think?"

She pulled a Lapras card out of her bag and Max couldn't help but give a mischievous smile. Pokemon cards were practically the PG version of poker, and Max used to play both.

"Now you're speaking my language"

\--------

"Fuck"

Max wasn't actually worried about his chances (even if he had to admit that Nerris was way better than he expected), however, he had learned early in life that no one expected a kid to curse. It was a good distraction technique and it worked: She looked at him with wide eyes and didn’t even notice when he placed a certain Pokemon as his active one.

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot!" She said, smiling, while attaching another energy card to her charizard, "Since our parents aren't here, we can curse!"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before mumbling a single "Hell." Max couldn't help but laugh again. That was pathetic. He managed to stop in order to concentrate on his turn.

"Well, in my defense, I'm not used to cursing," she said with an awkward smile. "Besides, it's just a rude, unnecessary thing to do..."

And then she finally looked.

Max had a Palkia GX with 3 water energy already attached.

...

"MOTHERFUCKER"

\--------

"Seriously? 'Play with your imagination?’"

The bus had managed to die in the middle of the road, which led the pair to hide under the shade of a nearby tree while the Quartermaster made some phone calls. Max was honestly impressed that the bus lasted for so long, but he quickly became annoyed when he realized they’d be stuck there for a while. Nerris tried to help pass the time by explaining how D&D worked without all the incomprehensible terms.

"It's way more deep than just playing pretend!" She defended, an offended tone creeping into her voice, “There's classes, races, alignments...and you can use drawings and dices..."

"Sounds boring," Max replied with a yawn.

"Could you just try it once we get there?" She asked between gritted teeth, "I promise, it's really fun, and I can let you be the Dungeon Master as an act of friendship."

"And that would make a difference because...?"

"Well, you’d get to be the one who creates the universe and decides what happens!" She excitedly answered, her eyes sparkling, "And then, you can come up with challenges for everyone, deciding if they will succeed or not--"

"Wait," Max interrupted as an idea popped into his head, "So I could, for example, throw your character into a lava pit?"

"Well, you would need some buildup and I would have to roll a 1 for it," Nerris answered, putting a pensive hand on her chin, "But yes."

"I'll consider it."

\--------

"Why didn't you bring any snacks? It's important to bring healing items on long quests!"

Max tried to roll his eyes and frown, but that was hard since he had his mouth full of chips and was the closest to an orgasm a ten years old could get.

He did try to steal something from the kitchen back home, but he couldn't find anything suitable for carrying in a backpack. He was really surprised when Nerris offered him a whole package of chips when he said he didn't have anything. Apparently, her parents packed a lot of things--lucky bitch.

"I guess I just forgot," he answered after swallowing the whole thing. Nerris didn't look convinced, but she abandoned the subject in order to look out of the window.

"I think we just passed an outdoor. We must be close!" She declared with a smile.

"I wouldn't be so excited if I were you," Max warned after eating the salt that remained in the package. "Even putting the scam part aside, you will have to face Mr. I-smile-too-much-to-be-a-normal-person soon."

Before Nerris could reply, the bus appeared to have hit something-- something that emitted a high-pitched girly scream.

"I can't believe he fucking did that, again." Max facepalmed. An amused smirk wormed its way onto his face. There was only one creature dumb enough to run toward a bus and produce such a sound.

"OH MY GODS, I THINK WE RAN OVER SOMEONE!" Nerris screamed, jumping from her seat and dragging Max by the hand (since he was too busy laughing to resist). When they reached the door, the Quartermaster mumbled a weak "Kids are here" before opening it. The duo found themselves face-to-face with a red-haired man who was brushing the dust off of his clothes. Other than that, he showed no signs of being hit by a bus a few seconds ago. The young counselor took one look at them and grinned.

"Welcome to Camp Campbell!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be a collection of pre-canon interactions before we start moving along the episodes. I will not rewrite every single one, just the ones I decided to change, there will also be chapters not related to canon episodes.
> 
> I'm kinda self-conscious about my writing, especially since this is some random ideia I had whole discussing found family at a discord server, but I hope y'all like it!


	2. The other 8 ones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Headcanons, Nerris is bi and a tsundere, Max is an asshole

Max was right about the camp.  
  
For starters they were indeed received by David (how he survived being hit with a bus was either a mystery or use of the dark arts), while Nerris couldn't understand Max's general hate towards the man she did found him suspicious. He was always smiling and was way too friendly, and if fiction taught her anything that was a major red flag, she had to keep her eyes open in case he was some sort of plot-twist villain.  
  
The scam part? Also true. The "wizard tower" mentioned on the pamphlet was nothing but a wood structure, the dices provided by the camp were probably stolen from a monopoly edition (thank gods she brought her own) and none of the counselors knew what D&D was! And she discovered that the old man-Quartermaster -apparently wasn't wearing a costume or acting, which raised some questions.  
  
Honestly, Nerris wasn't really paying any attention to the tour or the way David described the camp with tears in his eyes, or to the way Max cursed everything on his sign behind her, she was just trying to process how she had fallen for a rogue's trick that easy.  
  
So she just dozed off, ruminating her regrets and wondering why the camp salute was basically the shocker sign (gross). The tour ended with the other camp counselor- a woman named Gwen- sending them to their tend without looking away from her book. Nerris only realized the implications when Max called dibs on the bed away from the entrance.  
  
"We are going to share a tent?" She incredulously asked, they were still kids, so maybe it wasn't really "wrong", but it was awkward. Really awkward.  
  
"At least until other kids are unlucky enough to come here." Max shrugs, throwing his backpack on the floor "Since David is either too stupid or too innocent and Gwen doesn't give a fuck I can't say I'm surprised" he turned around, raising an eyebrow at her nervous expression "if this is really bothering you just pick your stuff and go to one of the other tends, is not that hard."  
  
She putted a hand on her chin, it was a good idea but...... "Aren't we supposed to obey the counselors? Miss Gwen said that this is our tend, so......" she was interrupted mid-sentence by the sound of Max laughing, she could swear she heard him mumbling "Miss Gwen" under his breath before he walked towards her, guiding her by the shoulders until they were outside the tend.  
  
"See the cabin?" He asked, pointing "Gwen is there, either reading werewolf porn or writing fanfics about teenagers fucking random monsters." Nerris barely had time to process the sentence and cringe before Max turned her head, making her face the distance silhouette of David bouncing around at random near the activities field. "And that is the human marshmallow, he wakes up earlier to say good morning to the fucking sun and the goddamn forest, and that's not even the most ridiculous thing I know about him. I have no idea where the Quartermaster is, but I'm not sure if I want to know."  
  
He let go off her, placing his hands on his hoodie pockets and smirking sarcastically "and those are the adults in charge of us, if you are really going to be a good girl and listen to them, I wish you luck" he just starts walking away, not even giving Nerris a change to recover from her paralyzed status "I'm going to see if I can find where the Quartermaster is hiding the bus, you could help me.... or go join David in his tree hugging routine"  
  
She blinks, she was considering rolling a dice to see which was the best option, but a loud moan coming from the counselors cabin made her decide.  
  
"Wait! I'm just going to put my things on another tent and we can start the quest!"

* * *

  
  
"What do you mean by escaping?"  
  
They were at the so called "wizard tower".The wood structure was in good conditions, so after five days of following David's program Nerris decided to follow Max's advice and just ignore the man, doing her own thing (she tried to be more gentle than Max tho, she learned a new curse word every time the boy decided to open his mouth. It was really useful). So with cardboard boxes, paint, loooots of duct tape and having rolled a 17 for luck, she was working on making the tower worth of a mighty wizard like herself.  
  
Surprisingly, Max decided to help, even if she highly suspected that it was only to escape David's never-ending list of camp activities. She had to admit that following Max's view and disobeying the adults was the best decision. Gwen didn't care unless they were doing something actually dangerous or trying to burn the camp (it was not her fault that she was curious about what arson was). She was honestly disturbed by the Quartermaster (nevermind plot-twist villain, she was pretty sure the man was a user of the dark arts). And while she could admire David's positive view and attitude she had to admit that trying to force them to do camp activities designed for 10 kids with only 2 was kinda dumb (trying to teach him D&D was a disaster, he tried to hug the orcs).  
  
"I mean exactly what I mean" Max buffed, putting more tape to make sure the cardboard stayed on place. He wasn't making a good job at it, but Nerris would take what she could get "I already spent three months on this godforsaken place last year, I'm not repeating the experience"  
  
"While I admit this is not the best location it's not that bad!" she replied, trying not to spill paint on the grass "We can do all sorts of things outside, and without supervision!" She took a quick look to make sure they were not being watched before continuing "And i made a quick arcana check this morning, this place has some serious stuff."  
  
She tried to repress her anger as Max's rolled his eyes. For some reason he kept refusing to believe in her magic, that had been a big problem for a while, but after being putted on ice for a full day he finally stopped the blasphemy, resigning to annoyed looks, it wasn't perfect, and he never actually apologized, but her charisma level wasn't high enough to convince him.  
  
"You're saying this now because there's only us here, so Gwen just doesn't do her job and even David is not that persistent, but wait until this place is full of kids" he threatened, his usual sadistic face on "last year some serious shit happened. Chucky did survive tho, technically."  
  
Nerris gulped, deciding to focus on drawing white bricks as decorations and making a mental note to install magic defenses around her tend.

* * *

  
It took eight days for the kids to start arriving, the first one was a girl -practically a teenager- named Ered, coming for "extreme sports camp".  
  
Nerris couldn't help but admire the girl. Her careless nature, her natural style, how she was able to use her skateboard even with the, well, ramp. (Nerris wasn't even sure how that all that metal sticked together at all, probably dark magic). The way the wind seemed to follow her just so she could shake her hair in a cool way..... Nerris was pretty sure she was actually a disguised siren or nature spirit, trying to attract kids to her den, so cool.  
  
"That's gay" Max repeated for the seventh time that day after Nerris described what she saw Ered practicing. She was going to deny it, but she could feel a faint blush warming her cheeks. She didn't really minded when Max kept bothering her about it later, so Nerris had a small crush on the coolest girl she ever saw, so what? And like, looking at said girl while she was hearing music with her headphones, shaking her head with the music in a way her blond hair seemed to come straight out of a shampoo commercial..... who wouldn't?

* * *

  
Not long after Ered they received three new campers (David almost cried).  
  
The first one was Preston. He had a..... peculiar style, was obsessed with theater, and yelled. Like, a lot. When he discovered that none of the things promised on the pamphlet were real he yelled so._damn_.loud that she could feel her HP dropping.  
  
When he calmed down she discovered that he wasn't that bad. Well, like Max always pointed out he was a drama queen, and his plays were lame. But he loved acting and interpreting, and when she invited him to try D&D he said he would consider it! And while his original plays sucked, improv was fun, even if it was awkward in the beginning. They ended up doing arson during the last one, the Quartermaster helped.  
  
The second one was a small kid, probably 8 if she had to guess. He was always wearing his "space suit", alongside a fishbowl on his head (Nerris could appreciate the dedication, the suit wasn't half bad!) and was really energetic, playing with his space ship at any given opportunity. No one really knew his name (Neil Armstrong Junior was a little... too forced) so when Max started calling him "space kid" it kinda sticked.  
  
The last one.... well, at least he was friendly?  
  
"Seriously, I can't be the only one who is fucking bothered by this." Max said, gesturing towards the kid that was drawing..... a sauna. A really weird looking sauna.  
  
Nerris rubbed her arm. Putting into kind words? Dolph reminded her of watching History Channel with her mother late at night during the weekend, and not in a good way.

* * *

* * *

  
They received a new kid two days later, apparently Max underestimated how many parents were willing to send their kids to a place they saw on the fucking internet, he checked the website himself during one of the times he stole his father's phone, and it had major red flags everywhere. He was honestly surprised it was an actual camp instead of child traffic point, not like the police would do something if it was.  
  
Nurf (seriously, fucking Nurf?) appeared to be the classic stereotyped bully. Max kinda expected it, all places with lots of kids usually had a one, it was practically an universal rule, like how the teacher that hates you the most is the one you have most classes with, or how David always seemed to pop out of the fucking floor when you least needed him.  
  
Except by the fact that he started spilling some physiological bullshit every time he bullied someone. There was that time when he was giving space kid a wedgie and instead of letting go started a discourse about how the lack of consequence only encouraged small criminals to become bigger ones, Preston joined at some point.  
  
Sometimes Max wondered if the Quartermaster wasn't putting acid on their food, it would explain a lot.

* * *

  
Camp was being surprisingly more bearable than last year, with "bearable" he meant that he could spend five minutes or more without seriously considering suicide. But with Space kid, Nurf and Preston to keep David busy (either by trying to die, trying to kill someone or trying to make everybody's ears bleed). Max often ended doing some activity with Nerris while being supervised by Gwen, now that the camp was starting to get crowded she was actually doing her job, but if the activity was some dumb shit she usually suggested something else. He could stand her.  
  
Nerris was still working on her "tower", and she managed to get Dolph to help her, he had to admit that the kid was a good artist, but every time Dolph drinked some of the expired soda the camp provided he ended with a _very specifically shaped stain_ on his upper lip, and just a look at his paintings were enough to convince Max to avoid the kid, if Nerris mysteriously disappeared he could at least keep all of the snacks her parents sent.  
  
Until three days later another kid arrived, Max wished he was there, the bus seemed like his only reasonable exit, but he was kinda busy trying to win all of Nurf's bullying money on poker. According to an excited Nerris bouncing on her seat during lunch the kid's name was Harrison, and he was also there for "magic" camp. He flinched at the vision of two dweebs running around with fake swords and incomprehensible sentences. But thinking back that would have been way better than reality.  
  
Harrison apparently was there for the other "magic" camp. The Las Vegas one. He had a fucking top hat and was dressed like a butler, so it wasn't hard to guess. Max went as far as watch his first "magic" show voluntarily, it ended with him sending a bunny to the fucking void, declaring he didn't know how to bring it back. Max wondered if it worked with people.  
  
After the show ended Nerris declared that even if his magic was different she was willing to "recruit a new party member", which he assumed it translated as "do some nerd shit", so he resigned to go to his tent and try to get some sleep (insomnia was a bitch like always). But was interrupted by a pissed Nerris, who kept pacing around his tent screaming something he didn't cared about. He was going to need an extra cup of coffee tomorrow.  
  
She kept making angrily complains during breakfast the other day, according to the informations he gathered during the seconds he payed attention to her rambling before focusing on something else she had a heated discussion with Harrison backstage, and then he called her magic fake or some shit. Max was going to point out that Harrison's magic was also fake to see if Nerris would shut up, but a quick glance to the opposite table revealed said boy making birds appear out of thin air, so he decided to just focus on his coffee before he started questioning his entire worldview.  
  
The so called conflict kept going non-stop during the week. Resulting in random "magic" show-offs, which meant Nerris throwing dices and slapping things with her fake sword while Harrison.... did some stuff. (Seriously, where the fuck did the fire came from? And where in hell was he keeping all of those birds and rabbits?). Nerris kept making angry discourses afterwords, but Max had years of practice from ignoring boring ass classes at school, so it was easier to let her be and request a favor for "listening" later.  
  
They eventually calmed down a bit, several conflicts during a day became a more organized cicle, Harrison would do some magic shit (where the fuck did the goddamn _tiger_ came from?), Nerris would insult him, he would insult her, and it either died there or they throwed hands later. At least it was interesting.  
  
Max kept trying to escape that godforsaken nightmare of course, even if Nerris was a dumb bitch who preferred to stay for some reason. Tricking the counselors was ridiculously easy, the real issue was the location. They were at the middle of fucking nowhere, he didn't have a phone or a car, so David always managed to catch him wandering through the forest in search of civilization. The only car "available" was the bus that came to leave new souls to be tortured in what was probably a free trial of hell satan left on earth. So when David cheerfully announced that they were going to receive two new campers that day he immediately pushed his tray filled with the camp inedible food. Quickly getting up on his feet.  
  
"I'm going to try hot wire that bus" he announced, interrupted Nerris staring contest with Harrison "if I'm lucky and we never see each other again, kick David in the balls for me."  
  
She gave her best sarcastic smirk, at least she was learning "sure, but since he'll keep you shadowing him for the rest of the day after you try, could you give me an idea of how to get my revenge on the copycat over there? He questioned my honor again."  
  
Max just rolled his eyes, this was getting boring "just hit him with your sword, throw dice or some shit" he dismissed, already turning around "and Nurf is tying Space Kid to the ceiling fan again"  
  
She looked up to the disaster in progress and quickly moved to another seat, shouting a thanks for the ideia and warning, but Max was already running to caught up with David's pace.

* * *

  
"So...... what are we now?"  
  
"The fuck do you mean?"  
  
They were sitting on the top of the "tower" (even if Max had to admit that it was well built for something made out of cheap wood, cardboard and child labor it was still stupid), playing pokemon cards, at night. Meh, he had done weirder things, besides, he was winning.  
  
"I mean there's nothing wrong with you having other friends" Nerris hesitantly started "but after everyone started arriving you've been distant. And specially after Nikki and Neil arrived you only talk to me when we are alone or doing an activity together, we barely ever hang out anymore, and when we do you always certify that no one will see us." She placed her cards on her lap, rubbing her arm with her now free hand.  
  
Max rolled his eyes, he didn't even truly ditched her, what was the big deal? "We are playing pokemon cards, I'm trying to taught you poker and I scared Nerf away from punching your stupid tower to the ground" he replies, giving her a sceptical look "so we are friends or some shit, your turn."  
  
Nerris bit her lip, attaching another normal energy to the fucking mega lucario that refused to die, a sad look in her eyes. He retained a groan, he befriended Nerris in the first place just so he wouldn't go insane with David's existence, and then continued because.... well, all of the new kids were also dumbasses, so sticking with the dumbass he already knew required less effort. And after Neil and Nikki came and actually went along with his escape plans...... well ditching her could turn everyone against him. Besides, it was almost nice to play cards with someone that wouldn't try to change the rules every five seconds, or take half an hour to make a move.  
  
"Besides, you're a fucking nerd and you know it" Max added "if the gang discovers that I talk to you without being necessary I'll never hear the end of it. Do you know how hard it was to talk my way out when Nerf tried to give me a wedgie?"  
  
Nerris didn't answered, silently using a trainer card to attach two extra energies to her lucario, wait, was she...... Their eyes met, yep, she's doing the goddamn kicked puppy look thing again. It didn't worked on him, but when she decided to use it she was persisting as hell.  
  
"Fine, what do you want?"  
  
"Well......"  
  
"I'm not playing fucking D&D with you."  
  
"........sleepover?"  
  
"No."  
  
"I'll brush your hair!"  
  
"I'm pretty sure last time you tried you broke the comb."  
  
"I like challenges."  
  
"Do I get to hit you with a pillow?"  
  
"Only if it's during a fair match"  
  
"You wish."  
  
"So.... deal?"  
  
"Neil snores like a fucking monster, so whatever."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was going to name this chapter "un deux trois quatre cinq six sept huit" cuz im a hamilton trashbin and there's 8 campers beside Max and Nerris, bu im saving that title for another fic.


	3. Scout's Dishonor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Max escaped the woodscouts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not really found of this chapter, i edited it several times, but honestly I couldn't think of anything better, hope is not that bad.

"No party member left behind!"  
  
Nerris quietly proclaimed, a smile on her face, making sure to restore her mana before using the cover of the night to quietly sneak out of camp. A quick look at the counselors cabin revealed a sleeping Gwen.... And a wide awake David, laying in bed smiling while cuddling..... a log?  
  
Creepy.  
  
Putting the scene on the back of her mind Nerris finally understood Max's ramblings about escaping, getting out of camp grounds was ridiculously easy, the problem was figuring out where to go next.  
  
Nerris didn't had that problem, she was on a quest!  
  
It had been hours since Nikki and Neil returned to camp, _flying_. Nerris couldn't describe how jealous she was, she had always wanted a magical transport animal companion! Her stuffed Appa didn't count.  
  
But they returned without Max.  
  
According to them they were betrayed by a woodscouts kid and got separated. Both shrugged her worries off, saying that he was probably just learning his lesson of the week and was coming back by himself soon. Even David didn't seem worried, making a discourse about how being friends with the other camps across the lake was important.  
  
She couldn't really blame them, after all it was _Max_, but she had the sworn duty as the leader of her party to look after her team!  
  
That and she had always wanted to invade an enemy fortress.  
  
After walking for 10 minutes she finally arrived at her mission location, she couldn't help but let out a small "woah", the rival camp had large walls, barbed wire covering every inch, all the near trees had been cut down in order to stop people from climbing it.  
  
All of that would have resulted in a true and exciting challenge......  
  
If it weren't for the fact that the big front doors were unlocked. And unguarded.  
  
She didn't even closed the gates, rolling her eyes as she started to walk between the various empty tents.  
  
"Noobs" She whispered, feeling tricked. This wasn't even a level 1 dungeon, this was tutorial level.  
  
"Although" she continued to no one in particular while searching "If the rumours were right there's only three woodscouts members"  
  
She nodded to herself, that would explain the lack of security, it was really a waste of a good for....  
  
"Holy shit, _Nerris_?"  
  
She turned around, and was greeted by the view of Max, chained by the leg to a flagpole, she felt her stomach twist slightly at the sign, he looked awful, black eye, eyes slightly red, hand marks on his cheeks..... yep, deja vu.  
  
He didn't seem bothered by his own bruises, his face only showing shock and confusion.  
  
"What the fuck are you doing here?" He whispered-shouted, sounding genuinely surprised.  
  
She plastered on a smile, if that was his main worry his condition couldn't be that bad.  
  
Besides.....  
  
She smiled even wider, truthfully this time.  
  
What other opportunity like this would she have?  
  
"My beautiful princess" she proclaimed, bowing deeply and ignoring the boy offended gasp "I, Nerris the cute, came here to rescue you from the clutches of the terrible woodscouts!"  
  
She looked up, making sure to have a smug grin on her face, Max looked utterly insulted, he immediately started blurting out curse words that would make a sailor blush, but she was so used to hanging out with him that she was immune to the status effect by this point. But before she could decide on a good princess pun she looked at his leg.  
  
Nerris felt her mouth dry, his jeans were ripped where the cuffs rested, blood pouring out from under it and leaving dark stains on the fabric and the floor. The wound didn't looked too deep, but still.  
  
Had he really tried what she thought he did? She could respect the high levels of bravery, but... Yikes.  
  
She dropped her posture, she could tease him to death later. Genuinely worried now, she runned a hand through her hair, pulling out a small bobby pin, she didn't really needed one, she always kept her hair short to be more practical in quests, but she had finally convinced Max to teach her lock picking last week, so she knew it was important to always have one, specially in a rescue mission.  
  
She kneeled by his side, handing him the small object, the smell of blood invading her nostrils and leaving her with a nausea status.  
  
He said nothing, their eyes meet for a moment, Nerris tried to show him how sorry she was with her gaze, but apparently she needed to work on that skill, Max only gave her a confused look before turning to free himself. She looked away, not having enough bravery points to watch.  
  
She was amazed and slightly disturbed by his pain tolerance, during the whole process all he did was hiss and mumble curses under his breath, after what felt like an eternity he shot out a single "Motherfucker!" Before tossing the handcuffs aside, cleaning his blood covered fingers on the pavement floor.  
  
She awkwardly stood up, watching as Max used the pole as a support to stand up, Nerris usually would offer to cast a spell to help with the pain, but she didn't needed to ask to know the answer.  
  
Now that the chain was out she could see the full wound. A big red line could be seen thought his ripped jeans, contrasting with his caramel skin, forming a full circle around his leg. Even if it wasn't deep the skin had been almost ripped out at several points, leaving a full sign of the red, pulsing, bloody flesh.  
  
Nerris put a hand on her mouth, avoiding the sight before she started to puke. She tried to focus on Max's upper half instead, his face was a mix of annoyance and effort as he slowly putted his injured leg on the floor. He hissed loudly at the minimum effort and pulled it back up, leaning against the flagpole with a concentrated look on his eyes, like if he was making sure to not cry or act like any normal person would while injured.  
  
Nerris couldn't take this anymore, she was making an executive party leader decision whether he liked it or not. She quickly approached, pulling his arm over her shoulders in order to help him stand. She was surprised when he didn't offer any resistance, actually leaning against her with minimum protest. If he was in too much pain to fight back or just eager to get out of that place as faster as possible she didn't know, and honestly hoped the latter.  
  
They made a few hesitant steps together, Max awkwardly hopping on his good leg while Nerris supplied the support so he didn't fall. They slowly managed to get out of the enemy's camp, during the whole trip Max didn't said a word, the atmosphere was so dense you could cut it with a sword, but Nerris couldn't think of anything to say, the gods knew she need to improve her charisma.  
  
Walking like this made the trip back to Camp Campbell a lot longer than when Nerris came alone, she looked up, the moon was high on the sky, way more stars than the ones she usually saw in the city shining above them, it was probably still far from sunrise, but still pretty late.  
  
"Not a word about this to anyone, you hear me?" Max finally broke the silence after ten minutes of walk "I'll figure out how to walk with this crap, or fake a fucking cold or whatever, so you don't need to explain shit"  
  
He was still avoiding her gaze, Nerris knew nothing about first aid, but she did knew that wounds should be treated so they wouldn't get infected, especially one that was inflicted by a probably rusty metal object. Knowing Max he would rather die from tetanus than ask Gwen or David for help. She considered trying to convince him, but Max could be very stubborn, and she was honestly out of stamina. So she decided to just take him to her tower, get some sleep, and then try to bring him to reason.  
  
"Let's focus on finishing the quest, and going to sleep to save our progress" She replied instead, looking at him the best way she could from her position "Tomorrow we can decide things." He gave her a skeptical look, and she decided to just smile in return. The camp flag was now visible at distance, and she couldn't wait to lay in bed and restore her stamina.  
  
Max looked away, biting his lip, looking...... embarrassed? He looked up and down a few times before signing and looking her in the eyes again.  
  
"I wasn't expecting anyone to be enough of a moron to come help me" he simply said before looking away again. She was confused for a moment before realization sunk in.  
  
_Max_, was trying to genuinely say _thank you._  
  
She couldn't help but smile, their friendship had leveled up for sure, and managing to make Max feel grateful had to be a rare achievement, she restrained herself from giving an exited squeak. And thinking about it, if their friendship levels were high, that meant........  
  
"You're welcome, _princess_."  
  
"You're not giving me a fucking nickname, specially not something like motherfucking princess"  
  
"Do you prefer Peach? Daisy? Pre-reboot MJ? _Uni_?"  
  
"Did you seriously just referenced a show older than both of our ages combined?"  
  
"The fact that you knew what I'm talking about means that you watched it!"  
  
"I'll fucking kill you"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since we finished pre-canon last chapter it will mostly be connected one-shots from here. Not gonna re-write every episode tho.


	4. The order of the sparrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How the kids organized the bonfire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for how late this is. Finals are bitting my ass, and even without that I had a problem while writing.
> 
> I was trying to rewrite mind freakers, but it was taking forever, either Neil and Nikki looked too much like jerks or Max looked too much like a woobie (yes I'm stuck in the TV tropes hell. Save me)
> 
> Adding this to writers block and finals it was going to take forever to finish, so I decided to skip it and go to the other chapter I had already finished.
> 
> I'm going to keep working on it once summer break arrives (yep. It's summer here), and if I ever finish it I'll post it on my tumblr so it won't mess with the chapter's order 
> 
> I'm really sorry

They were all sitting together in one of the big tables at the mess hall, everyone was bickering like usual and a food war seemed imminent. Nerris was engaged in an argument with Nikki about whether a cupcake was just a muffin with frosting or not when Max jumped on the table.

He slammed his foot on the hardwood twice before the room entered in complete silence, in terms of authority Max and Gwen were basically at the same spot, plus, everyone knew how terrifying he could be at truth or dare if you were on his bad side. 

"I'm 78% sure that all of you morons have brains, so you all know what happen earlier" he started, not bothering with introductions. Nerris rubbed her arm with embarrassment, she kinda felt sorry for David, even if she almost drowned in the lake because he decided to pull a rogue's trick to make everyone act nice... Yeah the feeling passed fast.

Almost all the campers frowned at the mention of the Order of the sparrow fiasco, some even crossing their arms. David was still passed out after being hit with the logs from the campfire, he didn't had a concussion, but it was enough for all the campers agree to not punish him any further once he woke up, but it didn't stopped them from being angry.

"Look, I hate that dickturd as much as the next guy" Max continued, dismissing the tension in the room with a hand wave "but I think I finally broke the dipshit, I didn't even knew he could curse" Nerris felt her mouth drop before she quickly closed it. David and cursed just didn't make sense together, according to the dramatic gasp from Preston and the disbelief faces quickly spreading the others agreed.

"So yeah, I think I went too far, specially after he got what he deserved for the whole prize scam" he kept a neutral voice, but he looked tense "so I'm kinda worried about him deciding to shoot up the camp, or committing suicide." His tone made it sound like he was just telling the weather, Nerris and the others only managed to stare at him with wide eyes before he continued.

"I'm pretty sure he can get a gun inside the Quartermaster's store, I'm not interested in dying, and if David dies I want to be the one to kill him, so I have an idea." he quickly continued before someone started talking "All we have to do is lit that stupid campfire and fix his shitty stick, it's easy and considering how pathetic David is he'll probably cry tears of joy or whatever."

Nikki suddenly jumped on the table, her eyes sparkling with excitement "It's just like arson! But we won't get punished for it!" She said, turning to face the other campers with a big smile on her face "I can get gasoline!" 

Nerris was already into the idea at the moment Max mentioned suicide (curse her high levels of empathy), but according to the whispers quickly spreading around the table the others were also being convinced. 

Nurf looked like he was going to say something, but before he did Neil raised his hand like they used to do at school, not waiting for authorization before speaking "And, if we decide to do this thing. I'm pretty sure we can use it to guilt trip David and Gwen into giving us something in return" 

Nerris was pretty sure she heard her mom say something like "everyone has a price". She never really understood the meaning of the phrase, but it was probably similar to the way everyone cheered to Neil's words. And being honest again, double desert was a pretty good motivator.

* * *

Nerris quickly pocketed the box of matches she stole from Nikki (she didn't knew enough fire related spells to deal with that), it took way more time than planned, but they managed to fix the campfire without having someone crushed by the logs. Nikki had appeared from gods-knows-where with a gallon of gasoline, Neil claimed that there was no way Max and Nikki would be able to resist using it before the night and went off to hide it (although Nerris was pretty sure she saw a line of smoke raise from the activities field).

"We better get out of here before Nurf throws someone at the logs and we have to start over again" Nikki cheerfully suggested, trying and failing to steal the matches back, Nerris had pretty high perception levels from avoiding Max's pranks.

"Offensive, but based on facts" Nurf replied, casually giving space kid a wedgie. Most of the campers shrugged at the suggestion, Dolph mentioning something about getting Gwen before everyone started moving.

"Wait, that's it?" Preston suddenly asked with an exasperated tone, making lots of heads turn "It's just a bunch of logs that will be on fire, where's the glamour? Or at least anything mildly interesting?"

"This is literally just a way to avoid having bodies to bury, calm the fuck down" Max replied, rolling his eyes. If Nerris was being honest, the fact that he actually stopped to answer was pretty impressive.

"We could add something else..." Dolph started, putting a hand on his chin. The campers close to him backed away a few steps "maybe add some color? Maybe paint the logs or....."

"COSTUMES!" Preston suddenly shouted "Every old tradition has those fancy ass clothes they get to wear at rituals! It's one of the best parts!" 

Max face-palmed, mumbling curse words under his breath before staring at Preston between his open fingers "Do you actually know any native american clothes or are you planning on going with the racist shirtless shit?" 

The theater boy seemed kinda taken back before his eyes started sparkling again. "Didn't David say something about Indians?" 

* * *

"So you helped them after all?" 

She was standing next to the bonfire, using her new clothes to block the smell of gasoline. According to Max it was better to use it before Nikki managed to get her hands on it. Everyone was helping Gwen (that had been surprisingly approving of the ideia) carry an still unconscious David there. She just hoped that they managed to not drop the man on the way, on purpose or not.

Max finished pouring the smelly liquid before tossing the gallon aside, cleaning his hands on his clothes before turning "Preston pretty much dragged me, so it's not like I had a choice" he gestured towards the logs, it took Nerris an embarrassing long amount of time to realize that she was the one holding the box of matches. "Besides, is better than having Dolph designing some nazi bullshit"

She could have lighted it with a fireball, but used one of the matches anyway. Thinking about the clothes topic, she had no idea how in hell Preston and Dolph managed to do it in such short time. But her robes reminded her of how people dressed in old kingdoms, and while it was anything but practical, it looked pretty.

She threw a single match on the pile, the wood was quickly consumed by a wall of flames, a wave of heat hitting her skin for a second before the fire stabilized. They just stood there for a couple of seconds, it wasn't a cold night, but the newfound heat was still comfortable. She had to admit, it was kinda nice. Not something worth going on a quest for, but nice.

"Do we need to do anything else?" She asked, breaking the comfortable silence, the heat was comfortable, but the still present smell wasn't.

Max shrugged, his eyes looking distant. It was weird seeing him without his hoodie, he moved his hands awkwardly, probably missing somewhere to put them. "You could check on everyone to see if they haven't killed the dipshit yet, I have to fix his stupid stick." He suddenly smirked, and at this rate? She was proud and ashamed at the same time for catching how wrong the phrase sounded.

She took her mind away from the topic, focusing on the opportunity in hand. "Awwwwwwwww!" She teased, making sure to put her hands on her heart and use a baby voice for a critical hit "The princess does have a heart!" 

"Next time I'm saving gasoline by using your body as fuel."

"I'm pretty sure he'll pass the staff to you~~~"

"Then I'll shove it right through your ass if you keep doing this."

"Status effect: Uncomfortable" 

"If Nurf tries to throw you in the fire I won't stop him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There wasn't much that could be covered in season 1, season 2 on the other hand... I'm pretty sure you know what I'm talking about 
> 
> I'm free from school next week, so updates will start to be more frequent since I'll have the time and the inspiration.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to ask me questions or see the fics I'm planning you can check my tumblr @littleannoyingbluebird


End file.
